Preconflict mobilization strategies and urban-rural transition : the cases of the PKK and the FLN/EZLN

Abstract

Armed movements are usually analyzed in the context of ongoing conflict, and much of the preceding mobilization and recruitment is often given far less attention. In this article, we assert that this period can be of critical relevance to subsequent movement trajectories. Analysis of the period antecedent to insurgency also facilitates a deeper contextualization of movement actors and their environments. We examine the period of preconflict mobilization for PKK and the FLN/EZLN, two movements of comparable interest due to their successful urban-to-rural transitions. We contend that the establishment of cross-class, locally based constituencies in both cases was critical to their consolidation as armed movements. We discuss the cases in relation to three main parameters: their immediate social environment, the role of the state, and the strategies adopted by the respective movements.